‘Incompetent’ Leaders Responsible for Financial Crisis

Incompetent policymakers are to blame for a financial crisis that will continue until substantial changes are made, author Nassim Taleb, known as the “Black Swan,” told CNBC.

Taleb, principal at Universa Investments and coiner of the “Black Swan” term to explain drastic, unpredictable events, said in a live interview that choking debt, continued high unemployment and a system that rewards bad behavior will hamstring an economic recovery.

“It is a matter of risk and responsibility, and I think the risks that were there before, these problems are still there,” he said. “We still have a very high level of debt, we still have leadership that’s literally incompetent …”

“They did not see the problem, the don’t look at the core of problem. There’s an elephant in the room and they did not identify it.”

“Bernanke belongs to a school of economics that is not in synch with the complex system,” he said. “By having Bernanke there you’re rewarding failure.”

“It’s not pessimism. I’m warning against a lack of understanding of the disease,” Taleb said. “Now sometimes you see patients doing very well and they have cancer. Long-term, I’m not comfortable treating a patient for his headaches when he has lung cancer.”